CARLSBAD, CA – A convergence of 93,226 industry leaders, buyers, sellers, music educators, artists, media and music makers from 187 countries and territories gathered this past week to take part in NAMM’s Believe in Music week, the online, global gathering to unify and support the people who bring music to the world. The event, which spanned Monday, January 18 through Friday, January 22, saw industry professionals virtually convene in 983 special sessions and events, engage with 611 hours of live-streamed and programmed content, which included nearly 200 education, training and professional development sessions presented by 391 speakers, and experience new products from 1,227 participating brands in the Marketplace, all to celebrate the power and resilience of music and to plan for the year ahead.
“While we knew we could not truly replicate The NAMM Show, we felt that this unprecedented time made it even more important for us to gather the global industry with a Marketplace to launch new products, provide an extraordinary education campus and to bring everyone together as a community to promote music and to set the stage for industry recovery and growth,” said Joe Lamond, NAMM President and CEO. ‘What surprised me the most was the incredible amount of quality content that was created by NAMM and our members for Believe Week and the fact that we might have inadvertently just created the best music social network out there!”
With its mission to support the people who bring music to the world, generous members and participants raised or pledged nearly $500,000 in matched funds for 12 nonprofit beneficiary organizations as well as other NAMM Foundation charities that work to advance access to music-making.
The event took place on the Swapcard platform and created a social network of industry activity from members found across the globe to network, learn and be inspired. At press time, 33,379 international registrants – from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe – representing over 187 countries and territories – attended.
Reactions!
“The Yamaha team put a ton of effort into bringing our dealers and customers a great experience at Believe in Music week. Our team members met with hundreds of our dealers and tens of thousands of customers dug into the content we presented in our 11 virtual booths,” shared Tom Sumner, President of Yamaha Corporation of America. “The Yamaha team was really pleased with this virtual version of our most important event of the year.”
“The NAMM team’s creativity represents the best of ‘the show must go on’ spirit by providing HARMAN and the rest of the industry with a platform on which we can connect with our customers,” said David Glaubke, director of corporate communications, HARMAN. “Believe in Music week is a brilliant use of technology that brings forward programs and products to individuals who might not ordinarily have the opportunity to attend the show.”
Alan Macpherson, CEO of L-Acoustics Americas, said, “This year, rising to a new challenge with its Believe in Music week, NAMM proposed a well-thought-out alternative to the in-person show and has accompanied us as we built our show presence. The new format is providing excellent opportunities for interaction with new and existing clients and a platform for us to present our products and services to a wide and varied audience. L-Acoustics is proud to be part of Believe in Music!”
At the Marketplace, the latest technologies and gear were presented across brand experience pages, showcasing brand stories and information, along with special events. At press time, 768 brand events were held throughout the week.
Mitch Gallagher of Sweetwater offered “Believe In Music week was a tremendous opportunity for everyone — not just the trade — to take part in the excitement of NAMM! Believe In Music brought us all the new gear we love and crave, along with a critical element for anyone interested in playing, writing, or recording music: inspiration. More than a substitute for the traditional trade show, Believe in Music week established a new venue for manufacturers, retailers, press, and music-makers to connect, interact, and learn from one another. A huge success!”
“Believe in Music week vastly exceeded my expectations, packed with valuable information, education and in-depth product seminars,” said Chris Tso of Full Compass. “This was a great way for our staff to participate, gain skills we can use today and a powerful way to promote the benefits of making music.”
TV… Lots of TV
Three main TV stations, Believe, Artist, and Gear TV, offered live interviews, new gear features and special performances. On Thursday and Friday, Believe TV served as the main hub of activity and featured the likes of Lamond and co-host Herb Trawick (Pensado’s Place) for two full days of industry updates, interviews with “Unsung Heroes,” and a series of special events. Each morning began from the live anchor desk at Gnarlywood Studios in Carlsbad, CA, featuring live interviews with multi-platinum, Grammy award winners Garth Brooks and Melissa Etheridge as the recipients of 2021’s “Music for Life” award. In his interview, Brooks, on the future of live concerts, remarked, “You never know what’s going to come in life. In the future, I will approach playing again like I never have before because it’s never been taken away from me… so get ready. It’s going to be a flurry of activity like you’ve never seen from artists, fans, everybody – get ready, I can’t wait.”
Brooks and Etheridge joined other artists at Believe week, including Glen Ballard; Jackson Browne; Chick Corea; deadmau5; Nathan East; Lzzy Hale; Orianthi; Patrice Rushen; Billy Bob Thornton; Diane Warren; and more.
Audio/Entertainment Technology Tracks
The Pro Production Sessions and its experts from Front of House, Projection, Lights & Staging News, and Stage Directions magazines presented interviews and behind-the-scenes presentations with leading names in entertainment production and technology. Among the highlights, Pro Production Sessions covered the uses of XR (extended reality) technology that’s redefining the possibilities of live production environments, along with solutions for successful remote collaboration, even from across the world.
In a first, the Event Safety Alliance (ESA) shared a suite of educational sessions with a diverse roster of academics and industry professionals that explored critical issues within the live event space, including safety in production design, risk management, COVID-19 mitigation planning, and more.
A suite of sessions curated by ESTA (Entertainment Services and Technology Association), along with Pro Production Sessions presented by FRONT of HOUSE and PLSN (Projection Lights & Staging News) magazines, offered entertainment technology professionals a range of knowledge and credit opportunities.
ESTA offered in-depth training sessions for lighting, production, safety, and rigging professionals. Just a few sessions in its extensive program included “Introduction to Show Network System Design,” “Rigging Math,” “Planning for Pyro Forces on Structures,” “How to Make a Bridle,” and “DMX512 Compliance and Controlling Color.”
Sessions for recording, live sound, house of worship pros and music technologists dove into the latest tools, tips, and innovations while also exploring the landscape of new technology. Programs included TEC Tracks, which offered big-picture sessions and high-profile topics in recording, live sound, and music business, featuring industry thought leaders. AES (Audio Engineering Society) presented educational sessions on key topics for audio professionals, including streaming live performances and new music industry business models; and Dante Training from Audinate featured free Dante certification training of its leading audio-video network solution.
Honoring the Industry’s Leaders and Innovators
The Top 100 Awards made its move to Believe TV in a live broadcast, which saw the industry virtually gathered to celebrate the spirit of the music retailer and to applaud their accomplishments, resilience, and commitment to serving music makers.
On Friday, at the 36th TEC Awards, a 35-year retrospective was presented, and winners in 22 technical and seven creative excellence categories were announced and honored. The annual event recognizes the exemplary achievements and innovations behind the sound of recordings, films, television, video games and multi-media. See the full list of winners at tecawards.org.
Also on Friday, the Parnelli Awards honored past award recipients in special event, “Keep the Torch Lit, 20 Years of Parnelli Awards” retrospective. The two-decade highlight reel also offered a memorial video saying goodbye to those we’ve lost this year, and some well-wishes and words from Parnelli Awards Executive Producer Terry Lowe, Chairman of the Board of Advisors Marshall Bissett, and TPI’s Michael and Elizabeth O’Keefe. Check out the video highlights of 20 years of the Parnelli Awards here: https://parnelliawards.com/
Closing out the week, the evening featured a celebration of outstanding women in the industry at the She Rocks Awards. The 9th annual awards show was hosted by Lzzy Hale (HALESTORM) and Lyndsey Parker (Yahoo! Entertainment) and honored The Go-Go’s, Heart’s Nancy Wilson, Amy Lee of Evanescence, Cherie Currie from The Runaways, comedian Margaret Cho, drummer Cindy Blackman Santana, and others.
On the Horizon
At present, the industry looks forward to gathering in Nashville at Summer NAMM, July 15-17, 2021 at Music City Center. Until then, the Believe in Music platform remains open to all until February 28, 2021.
For more info, visit https://www.namm.org/
